Aloysius O'Kelly, Irish, 1853-1936
Title: A Young Girl Reading
Date: c.1910
Medium: Oil on panel
Credit Line: Purchased, 2017
Object Number: NGI.2017.31
DescriptionThough the character of his subjects changed in response to the geographical/cultural settings in which they were produced, O’Kelly favoured a Realist aesthetic throughout his work. This undated painting resembles most closely figure studies O’Kelly produced in America, which are sentimental rather than ethnographical. The sweetness that characterises this study of a young, fashionably-dressed girl immersed in a book recurs in larger works such as A Hearty Breakfast and Blowing Bubbles. The fact that this is the only known occasion on which the artist signed a work ‘A. KELLY’ is not inconsistent with the artist’s practice. O’Kelly employed different forms of signature during his career, and even assumed the alternative name of Arthur Oakley in Cairo and, later, Chicago. Indeed, he was born Aloysius Kelly, and assumed the prefix ‘O’ only when he emigrated to London in 1861. The signature on this work is original, and the style and technique consistent with O’Kelly’s work. The drawing is assured and the palette limited but harmonious.
ProvenanceCollection of Eliza Kate Holman, an acquaintance of and sitter to the artist, and by descent to her grandson, David Simana. On offer for purchase from the estate of Patricia and David Simana